And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and drove quails from the sea, and cast them about the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the earth.
God answers the demand for meat with a wind, and the whole camp is buried in birds for a day's journey in every direction — proof He could have done it at any time. Yet the chapter ends in graves, and that raises the hard question here: what happens when God gives us what we crave?
The details in the verse match the habits of the bird, which is why the wind matters as much as the quail.
Most take this to be the common quail. It migrates, but arrives so tired that it is easy to catch. Scripture says the wind brought them, and this fits their habits. They appear unable to fly against the wind, so they wait for a breeze in their favour. The words about the birds being "about two cubits above the ground" surely refer to the height they flew when tired. This matches the way they are still caught today: many people surround them in a ring and close in on the centre.
Commentators differ on the two cubits: some read it as how high the tired birds flew, others as how deep the birds lay on the ground. Either way, the scale was meant to teach Israel something about themselves.
How astounding it must have been for Israel to see millions of quails brought by a strong wind! They fell on both sides of the camp for miles, and lay three feet deep. God could have done this at any time, but it was an object lesson. It should have humbled them deeply and made them judge their own unbelieving, complaining attitude.
So why send the birds at all?
In verses 31-33 there is further testimony that the Lord was among them. It was love that gave the quails. They ought to have said, "How could we ever doubt the love of God?" But their lust kept driving them, and on they went to satisfy it.
Quails had fallen once before, in Exodus 16, and no plague followed. One writer explains what had changed.
The Lord gave them quails in answer to their grumbling, and then dealt with them in His government. I really believe we get what we want. If I want meat, God will give it to me, but with discipline and a starved soul along with it. It was not like the first case, in Exodus 16, where they asked and God gave them quails. Then they stood on the ground of pure grace. Now they stood on the ground of responsibility, and He acts another way. There it was sin met by grace, here it is sin judged in government.
God can answer a prayer and judge the one who prayed it in the same act.
It is the greatest chastening from God when He gives that which the flesh craves.
One writer links the plague to what the people did the moment the birds landed.
It seems that instead of thanking God first, the people set to work at once gathering the quails. The meat was still between their teeth, not even chewed or digested, when the Lord struck them with a great plague. It killed those whom greed had driven. If they had first been humbled enough to thank the Lord for this food, would He have sent this blow? We may be sure He would not, for food is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4:4).
One writer sees the same pattern later, in the history of the church.
Unspiritual men have claimed Christ and His cross while they knew nothing of the grace they boasted in and abused, and were never taught the truth that is in Jesus. This has caused many a plague-like disorder, and at times it seemed as if the Church itself would die of it. The graves of Kibroth-hattaavah — the "graves of lust" — lie all along the road by which we have reached our present place in the wilderness.
- Wind — the LORD steered tired birds with a breeze they could not fly against; the wonder lay in the timing and the sheer number.
- Love — the gift was a fresh proof that He was among them; it should have shamed their doubt out of them.
- Ground — in Exodus 16 the same gift met sin with pure grace; here, under responsibility, it comes with discipline.
- Greed — they gathered before they gave thanks; the meat was still in their teeth when the plague fell.
- Graves — the place of God's plenty carries the name "graves of lust"; a gift grabbed without thanks buries the one who grabs it.
And the people rose up all that day, and the whole night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails he that gathered little gathered ten homers; and they spread them abroad for themselves round about the camp.
Israel spends a full day, a night, and another day grabbing the quail God has sent, and even the slowest gatherer piles up ten homers. Commentators read this frantic harvest as a heart that wanted the gift but not the Giver, and they ask what it means when God grants a request that faith never made.
They had just seen that God could feed them in the desert. One writer says what that should have produced in them — and what it produced instead.
God grants the people what they desire. They see that God is just as able to satisfy them in the wilderness, but instead of being ashamed, they grab the quails with greed. So the wrath of God falls on this wicked people.
The birds were proof that the Lord was still with them. One writer says that fact alone should have settled every doubt about His love.
In verses 31-33 there is a further testimony that the Lord was among them. It was love that gave the quails, and they ought to have said, "How could we ever doubt the love of God?" but their lust was so persistent that they went on to satisfy it. This is what brought the anger of the Lord. While the flesh was still between their teeth, His anger burned against them, and He struck them with a great plague.
Notice the order of events. They went straight from receiving to gathering, with no pause to thank God. One commentator asks whether the plague had to happen at all.
However, it appears that the people did not first thank God humbly. Instead they set to work at once gathering the quails. While the meat was still between their teeth, not even chewed or digested, the Lord struck them with a great plague, and those whose greed had driven them died. If they had first been subdued to thank the Lord for this food, would He have brought this affliction? We may be sure He would not, for the Word of God and prayer make food holy (1 Tim. 4:4). There at Kibroth Hattaavah these offenders were buried.
The problem was not the food but the eye that looked at it. One writer says they grabbed the gift and missed the Giver — and the name of the place records the verdict.
There was no repentance. Greedily they fell upon what God had provided. It was only to satisfy their lust; they did not see the giver behind the gift. The rebellious, stubborn heart, unrepenting, was there, using for their own destruction what the Lord had given. So the severe judgment came... Kibroth-Hattaavah means "graves of lust."
Ten homers each, spread out around the camp, shows people stocking their own larder. One writer calls that distrust of God. He also warns that an answer from heaven is not proof the asking was right.
How grave a consideration for our souls! God may answer not only a believing prayer, but an unbelieving one too. It is a miserable thing when the heart is not humble, and does not turn at once to God. How good it would have been for Israel if they had checked their complaining and rebuked their own souls before God! Surely, if the answer had brought them to their knees and into the dust before God, it would have been better for them. But in practice they were far from God. They chose to be their own suppliers, and distrusted Him who loved them.
One writer turns the closing lines of the chapter on us. When the food God gives stops satisfying, He may let us have what we crave instead — and that is the danger.
The closing paragraph of our chapter shows us the people enjoying what their hearts had craved — a miserable and deadly enjoyment. "He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul." They got what they longed for and found it death. They wanted flesh; and with the flesh came the judgment of God. This is most solemn. May we heed the warning! The poor heart is full of empty desires and hateful lusts. The heavenly manna fails to satisfy. There must be something else. God allows us to have it. But what then? Leanness — barrenness — judgment!
(The line quoted here comes from an older translation. The ESV reads: "he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.")
- Love gave. The quail were fresh proof that the Lord was among His people. The gift should have ended every doubt about His love.
- Lust grabbed. A day, a night and a day of gathering, ten homers for the slowest man — the harvest measured the appetite, not the need.
- Thanks skipped. They went straight from receiving to eating, with no pause to bless the Giver. The Word of God and prayer are what make food holy.
- The Giver unseen. They saw the gift but not the hand behind it, and there was no repentance at all.
- The answer judged. God can grant an unbelieving prayer too. They got what they asked and found death in it, and the camp took the name "graves of lust."